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Friday, 30 September 2011

September competition

We have 5 copies of The Crimson Shard by Teresa Flavin, for the best answers to this question:

Teresa's post on 8 September was about inspiring treasures she brought
back from her travels and mini-adventures. What is the most memorable
treasure you ever brought home and what did it inspire in you?

And 5 copies of Vlll by H.M.Castor for the best answers to this one:

My motivation in writing VIII was to try and discover why Henry VIII took the extraordinary decisions he did. I wanted to be a fly on the wall inside his mind, if you like! If you could be a fly on the wall inside the mind of any historical figure as he or she lived through a particular event or experience, or took a particular decision, who would it be, what would that experience/decision be, and (briefly) why?

Many thanks to Templar for donating the books. Deadline 7th October.

Sincere apologies to other readers, but these two competitions are open only to readers resident in the UK.

8 comments:

The most memorable treasure for me was when I had visited a cousin of my Mother's (for the first time) in Portugal and as we were looking at old photos we found one that was of my Grandmother (her aunt) when she was in her early twenties. Now my Grandmother had gone to the U.S. (Massachusetts)from Portugal back just before the WWI broke out. Yes WWI not II. She was young about 18 and I had heard a lot of stories growing up about her time there and how she was quite fearless (as my Mother always told me I was just like her) I was intrigued and in awe of her. I did know her but she passed when I was about 10. Of course in those days not a lot of photos were taken and I had never seen my grandmother young so finding this was like gold to me.

Question 2:

I read a book many years ago about Mary Queen of Scots. It moved me so much that I had to see Edinburgh Scotland and Holyrood House and years later I did. Now one particular event that she went through that stood out for me was the murder of her friend (his name escapes at the moment, something with an R) he was a young,Italian boy who was a musician and brought to her at court. She of course was young herself and I think felt very alone in Scotland at this time after she had left France and had no one she could feel safe to confide in. This friend became her only ally. He was murdered in front of her and she was taken I believe prisoner. They say the blood stained the wood floor and to this day it can still be seen. I can't imagine her life as most of it was spent as a prisoner and losing her only friend this way.

For the first question, when I went to Pearl Harbor I bought a little picture of the ARIZONA memorial, and put it above my desk. Now I have an entire notebook full of PH ideas. I'm not sure if the inspiration I got was from going to PH itself, or the picture, but I do know that whenever I see that picture I get all excited again. Wonderfully inspiring, :)

And for the second question, it's a tough one. Probably Queen Elizabeth, she's my favorite historical person, during anytime. When she talked to Drake would work. But I'd also love to take a peek in Shakespear's mind, being a writer. Probably while he was working on Much Ado About Nothing.

I would be a fly on the wall as Edward Seymour lost his life and his beautiful wife Anne Stanhope was locked in the tower. Edward was the victim of circumstance, and charged with felony which shouldn't have been punishable by death but yet again (as we have seen with so many others aka Anne Boleyn) he was killed on trumped up charges. He was apparently a popular man with the people, so what would he have been feeling as he descended the scaffold on Tower Hill? And more so what was his wife Anne feeling as she languished in the tower as the hour of her husbands death came and went? She was known as a "hard-ass" (for want of a better word) and I would love to know what she was thinking and feeling at this moment, was she worried she would follow her husband to his death? Or was she aware that come Mary's reign she would be released and restored? So many questions that just can't be answered, though I wish they could and I would love to be a fly on the wall during these moments. Plus these two people are my favourite historical people and I would absolutely love to know more about them!

Question1. I have a ring that I bought in the market in Anjuna, Goa. The woman who sold it me assured me it was silver and coral; I know it's not coral but compressed red sandstone from Rajasthan. I wear it every day - the sandstone is rubbing a little thin now, but it reminds me always that things are not always what they say they are. And the complexity of belief - I think the woman who sold it to me thinks I believe it to be coral.

Question2.In a museum in Hokitika in New Zealand I came across the story of Barbara Weldon, born in Ireland, moved to England (probably during the potato famime), transported to Melbourne and ended up in New Zealand 'servicing' the gold prospectors. (Please don't nick the idea - I so want to write her story!)

I think it would be a rock that I brought back from a beach on the south coast of Holy Island. What fascinated me was that there were the fossilized remains of sea creatures that must have lived in much warmer waters embedded in it. Not only does it remind me of a beautiful place, but it also humbles me to think of the tremendous changes that our planet has undergone through aeons of history.

Number Two

I'd like to be inside the mind of Anne Hathaway on the day Shakespeare departed for London to make his name as a playwright. Was their marriage an unhappy one? Did he abandon her and the children, or was it a joint decision that gave both of them room to grow as people? So many assumptions are made about their marriage but we really know next to nothing. And as Germaine Greer's recent book "Shakespeare's Wife" has shown, there was an established tradition of women running brewing and malt-processing businesses in Stratford at the time.

It's very tempting to wonder what Will got up to in his "lost years", but no, I'll go with Mrs S.

Question 1 (only): I have a piece of Etruscan pot that was given to me by a man I met in a cafe in a village north of Rome. He had found it while out grave-robbing with a fascist (whom also met) who ran the local barber's shop. The man who gave me the bit of pot used to by a driver for the BBC and drove daleks around. Then he married a Norwegian and moved to Italy (not sure why). He made me a lovely lunch (a peasant pasta dish which has become my daughter's favourite) and introduced me to the local pot-heads and artists (good deal of overlap there).

I thought I'd write something Etruscan, but I'm slowly realising that I'm more likely to write about the grave-robbing!

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